“All books are either dreams or swords, you can cut, or you can drug, with words.” – Amy Lowell, Born Feb. 9, 1874. If you’re just using words to describe shit or explain shit, you’re wasting them. Words can stab. Use yours hit the reader’s tenders organs. Make them bleed. Reopen old wounds. Carve new […]
Words that Wound, Words that Heal – We Alternate Them to Persuade People to Buy Read More »
“At my lemonade stand I used to give the first glass away free and charge five dollars for the second glass. The refill contained the antidote.” – Emo Philips, Born Feb. 7, 1956. Selling is a two stage process, generally speaking. First you sell the customer on your interpretation of their problem. Like so, elaborating
Fatal Copy Flaw: Too Much Lemonade. Not Enough Poison. Read More »
“We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings.” – Louis Nizer, Born Feb. 6, 1902. We don’t realize how much of what we do and say and think is a result of our brain acting on its own to protect our sensitive emotions. We are quick to reject anything that
Telling People Lies for Money (When They Won’t Listen to the Truth) Read More »
“Life is a corrupting process from the time a child learns to play his mother off against his father in the politics of when to go to bed; he who fears corruption fears life.” – Saul Alinsky, Born Jan. 30, 1909. A lot of advertising writers talk some bullshit like “I use persuasion, not manipulation”
Come Get Corrupted With Me And Let’s Get Rich (While Helping People) Read More »
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton Chekhov, Born Jan. 29, 1860. Show, don’t tell. It’s an old adage among screenwriters, who incidentally love Chekhov. So, it behooves us to remember that demonstration is the highest possible form of proving the effectiveness of a
Make Metaphors That Cut Like a Razor to the Throat Read More »
“When people ask for time, it’s always for time to say no. Yes has one more letter in it, but it doesn’t take half as long to say.” – Edith Wharton, Born Jan. 24, 1862. When it comes to making sales, if a prospect says they want to think about it, it means they aren’t
They Can’t Walk Away From the Sale if You Trap Them in a Super Fun Maze. Read More »
“Men value things in three ways: as useful, as pleasant or sources of pleasure, and as excellent, or as intrinsically admirable or honorable.” – Mortimer Adler, Born Dec. 28, 1902. Let’s make today about practicality. We write to sell things. That’s our goal. Our duty. And to do that, we have to make people see
Shortcut to Creating a Perception of Value in Absolutely Any Piece of Information Read More »
“We have too many high-sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.” – Abigail Adams, Born Dec. 22, 1744. In our line of work, it can be easy to be attracted to other ads that are clever, or funny. We envy the creativity of their writers and conceivers. We mentally (or even physically)
A Funny Sign You Saw Is Not Good Copy Read More »
“Attitudes are more important than facts.” – George MacDonald, Born Dec. 10, 1824 I can’t persuade anyone with JUST the facts. Facts are boring. Static. Motionless. Some dummies keep saying we live in a post-fact age. I think that’s dangerously untrue. But I digress. If facts alone could close the sale, I’d still be a
Facts Can’t Sell Anything Without Feelings (Doot Doo Doot) Read More »
“All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why.” – James Thurber, Born Dec. 8, 1894. This applies to man and woman and child and any sorts of animals or androids or aliens – provided they have money to spend. They should strive to learn what
Make Your Reader Chase the Sale by Using the Right Bait Read More »
